Infant&#39;s walker



1962 E. F. HAMILTON ETAL 3,059,963

INFANTS WALKER Filed Sept. 12, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l INV EN TORZB.

Ema F. HEM/ATOM BY nuo RHLPH B. LFIY Oct. 23, 1962 E. F. HAMILTON ETAL3,059,963

INFANTS WALKER Filed Sept. 12, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS EHRL EHHMILTON y FWD RHLPH 8- L175 United States Patent 3 ,059,963 INFANTSWALKER Earl F. Hamilton and Ralph B. Lay, Columbus, Ind, as-

This invention relates to an infants walker, and has for its objects theprovision of an infants walker which can be manufactured largely frominexpensive metaltubing, which is easily movable between an extendedoperative position providing a mobile, broad, groundengageable base anda compact collapsed position for storage, and which can be releasablylocked in its extended operative position.

In carrying out our invention in its preferred form, there is provided apair of laterally spaced rear legs rigidly joined together at theirupper ends. A pair of front legs are pivotally connected at their upperends to said rear legs and are swingable between an operative positionangling outwardly from said rear legs and a collapsed position in whichthey are generally parallel with said rear legs. A swivel-type castor ismounted on the lower end of each of the front and rear legs to permitthe walker to be easily moved in any desired direction.

A generally U-shaped seat frame is pivotally mounted on said front legsand is provided with locking means lockingly engageable with said rearlegs for releasably retaining the walker in its extended position. Theseat frame carries a flexible infant-supporting sling and is movable,upon release of said locking means, from an extended operative positionprojecting outwardly from the rear legs to a collapsed positiongenerally coplanar with said rear legs.

Other objects and features of our invention will become apparent fromthe more detailed description which follows and from the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an infants walker embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the walker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the walker shown in FIG. 1, but showingsaid walker in its collapsed position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section showing the front andrear legs and seat frame in their partially collapsed position, andshowing in dotted lines said front and rear legs and seat frame in theirfully collapsed positions; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the pivotalinterconnections between the seat frame and the front and rear legs.

As shown in the drawings, our infants walker comprises a pair of rearlegs 10, conveniently constituting the generally parallel stretches of aU-shaped length of metal-tubing, and interconnected at their upper endsby a bight 12 extending transversely across the walker adjacent itsforward end. The upper stretches 14 of the legs are generally parallelto each other, with the intermediate stretches 16 of said legs anglinglaterally outwardly and joined to the lower stretches 18 of said legswhich are normal to the plane of the floor.

A forwardly extending front leg 20 is pivotally connected, as at 22, tothe upper stretches 14 of each of the rear legs 10. Each of the frontlegs 20 has an upper stretch 24 parallel with, and in alignment with,the upper stretch 14 of its associated rear leg 10, a laterallyoutwardly angled intermediate stretch 26, and a downwardly projectinglower stretch 28 normal to the plane of the floor. As shown in FIG. 2,the front legs 20 are shorter 3,fi59,%3 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 than therear legs 10, and their intermediate stretches 26 angle outwardly at alarger angle than the intermediate stretches of the rear legs to thusdispose the lower stretches 18 of said rear legs in planes within thelateral extent of the lower stretches of the front legs 20. Aswivel-type castor 30 is mounted in the lower end of each of the frontand rear legs, and the lower stretches 18 and 28 of said legs arefurther provided with outwardly projecting resilient bumpers 32.

A generally U-shaped seat frame comprising a pair of laterally spacedparallel stretches 34 interconnected by a transversely extending bight36 is pivotally mounted on the front legs 20 adjacent the ends of thestretches 34, as at 37, to provide a transverse pivotal axis for theseat frame above the angled intermediate front leg stretches 26. Theseat frame projects outwardly from the rear legs when the walker is inits extended operative posi tion, and has a bracket 40, conveniently inthe form of a sheet-metal stamping pivotally mounted, as at 35, on eachof its parallel stretches 34. An outwardly extending locking finger 42adapted to be received over the upwardly presented face of the adjacentrear leg 10 is formed on each of the brackets 40. The inherentresiliency of the locking finger 42 permits it to be releasably snappedin a locked position on said adjacent rear leg for releasably lockingthe walker in its extended operative position. The end of the bracket 40opposite the locking finger 42 is provided with an elongated slot 44which is slidably and pivotally received over a pivot pin 45 mounted onthe inner face of the upper stretch 14 of the rear leg 10 to slidablyand pivotally interconnect the seat frame to the rear legs. Thus, thebrackets 40 interconnect the seat frame to the rear legs on fixed pivots37 and to the rear legs 20 on sliding pivots 44 and 45.

As shown in FIG. 1, the seat frame supports a flexible infant-supportingsling 46 provided at its forward end with a crotch strap 48 carried on across bar 50 mounted in aligned openings in the inner faces of the upperstretches 14 of the rear legs 10. As shown, the cross bar 50 is disposedin parallelism with and below the bight 12 interconnecting the rear legs10.

To move the baby walker from its extended position shown in FIG. 1 toits collapsed position shown in FIG. 3, the locking fingers 42 aredisengaged from the rear legs 10, and the front legs 20 are thus free toswing about their pivotal connections 22 into their partially collapsedfull line position shown in FIG. 4. Concurrently with the collapsingmovement of the front legs 20, the seat frame is swung downwardlypivoting with respect to said front legs 20 about its pivotalconnections 3'7, and pivoting with respect to the rear legs 10 about thepivot pins 45. As the seat frame reaches its partially collapsedposition shown in full lines in FIG. 4, the bracket slots 44 slidedownwardly on the pivot pins 45 to provide a lost motion for maintainingthe fixed distance between the pivot points 37 and 35 as said seat frameis swung into its fully collapsed position shown in dotted lines in FIG.4. As shown in FIG. 3, the front legs have a length shorter than thedistance from the pivot points 22 to the lower ends of the front legs10, and this difference in length of the two sets of legs coupled withinthe differences in their widths at their lower ends permits the lowerends of the front legs 20 to swing through and cross the plane of thefront legs 10 when the walker is in its fully collapsed position, asshown in FIG. 3. As will be understood, the walker may be moved from itscollapsed position into its extended position by merely reversing thepivotal movements just described.

We claim as our invention:

1. An infants walker, comprising a pair of laterally spaced rear legsrigidly interconnected at their upper ends,

a pair of front legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to saidrear legs and swingable between an operative position divergent'withsaid rear legs and a collapsed position generally parallel with saidrear legs, a U-shaped seat frame pivotally connected to said front legsand having a pair of brackets pivotally mounted thereon, each of saidbrackets having a locking finger adapted to be lockingly received onsaid rear legs for releasably locking the walker in extended operativeposition and each being pivotally joined to one of the rear legs on asliding pivotal axis whereby said seat frame is swingable between anoperative position projecting outwardly from said rear legs and acollapsed position generally coplanar therewith, a flexibleinfant-supporting sling carried on said seat frame, and castors mountedon the lower ends of said front and rear legs.

2. An infants walker as set forth in claim 1 with the addition that saidpair of rear legs are interconnected adjacent their upper ends by atransversely extending cross rod and the forward end of said sling ismounted on said cross rod.

3. An infants walker, comprising a pair of laterally spaced rear legs, apair of laterally spaced front legs, said pairs of front and rear legsbeing pivotally joined together adjacent their upper ends for movementbetween a collapsed position generally parallel with each other and adiverging extended operative position, a generally U-shaped seat framehaving a pair of lateral stretches interconnected at one of their endsand pivotally connected adjacent their opposite ends to said front legsbelow their connection to said rear legs, locking means interconnectingsaid lateral stretches and rear legs for releasably locking the walkerin extended operative position, said locking means being pivotallyconnected to said rear legs and said lateral stretches with at least oneof said pivotal connections being a slidable pivotal connection, saidseat frame being swingable downwardly from an operative positionprojecting rearwardly from its interconnections to said front and rearlegs into a collapsed position generally parallel with said front andrear legs, means rigidly interconnecting at least one of said pairs oflegs above its interconnection to said seat frame, a flexibleinfant-supporting sling carried on said seat frame and saidinterconnecting means, and casters mounted on the lower ends of saidfront and rear legs.

4. An infants walker, comprising a pair of laterally spaced rear legs, apair of laterally spaced front legs, said front and rear legs beingpivotally joined together adjacent their upper ends for movement betweena collapsed position generally parallel with each other and a divergingextended operative position, a seat pivotally connected to said frontlegs below their interconnection to said rear legs, locking meanspivotally mounted on said seat and rear legs and having means lockinglyreceivable on the upper faces of said rear legs for releasably lockingthe walker in extended operative position, said locking means beingpivotally connected to said rear legs and seat with at least one of saidpivotal connections being a slidable pivotal connection, said seat beingswingable downwardly from an operative position projecting rearwardlyfrom its interconnections to said front and rear legs into a collapsedposition generally parallel with said front and rear legs, means rigidlyinterconnecting at least one of said pairs of legs above itsinterconnection to said seat, and casters mounted on the lower ends ofsaid front and rear legs.

5. An infants walker, comprising a pair of laterally spaced rear legs, apair of laterally spaced front legs, said front and rear legs beingpivotally joined together adjacent their upper ends for movement betweena collapsed position generally parallel with each other and a divergingextended operative position, a seat frame having a pair of lateralstretches interconnected at one of their ends by a transverselyextending bight and pivotally connected adjacent their opposite ends tosaid front legs below their connection to said rear legs, locking meansinterconnecting said lateral stretches and rear legs and releasablylocking the walker in an extended position in which said lateralstretches intersect the plane of said rear legs and extend rearwardlybeyond said intersection, said locking means being pivotally connectedto said rear legs and lateral stretches with at least one of saidpivotal connections being a slidable pivotal connection, said seat framebeing swingable downwardly from said operative position into a collapsedposition generally parallel with said front and rear legs, a flexibleinfant-supporting sling carried from said bight and from said lateralstretches along the portions of said lateral stretches interposedbetween said bight and their pivotal connections to said locking means,and casters mounted on the lower ends of said front and rear legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,013,910 Burst Sept. 10, 1935 2,577,579 Hall Dec. 4, 1951 2,788,054Erickson Apr. 9, 1957 2,886,337 Quisenberry May 12, 1959

